


Rank

by searider_Falcon



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Endgame Fix-It, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14192790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/searider_Falcon/pseuds/searider_Falcon
Summary: This was inspired by a Star Trek Discovery scene. One that I loved! It only seemed fitting for J/C. Another Endgame fix-it, because it was needed...again. It seems like a lot of my stories are Endgame fix-its.This is in present tense, not my usual style, so please forgive me for any tense changes I didn’t catch - or a lot of them. :) Hopefully it’s not too distracting.





	Rank

It surprises him to find her at his doorstep. It had been a month since Voyager returned to the Alpha quadrant. A month since he last spoke to her. Now, at 0100 hours, here she was. He looks at her sleepily. He was awoken by her insistent knocking. Not that he had been to bed yet. He fell asleep on the couch reading. He’s been doing that a lot lately. Kathryn looks at him with an intensity that held him standing at his opened apartment door instead of asking her to come back in the morning.  
“Chakotay,” she said quietly.  
Chakotay doesn’t respond but instead stands aside to allow her entry to his small Starfleet issued apartment. She hesitates briefly but enters, stepping over the threshold with as much self assurance as he’s used to seeing in her.  
“It’s late, Kathryn,” said Chakotay.  
“I know,” said Kathryn, “but I need a drink and so do you.”  
Chakotay sighs and watches as Kathryn makes her way to the replicator. He shuts the door to his apartment and follows her to the living quarters.  
Kathryn leans against the replicator trying to make up her mind. After a moment, Chakotay pulls a bottle of Antarian Cider from one of his still unpacked storage bins.  
“How about this?” He said, turning to her.  
Kathryn turned and smirks at the sight of the bottle.  
“It’s my last one,” said Chakotay.  
“Fitting,” said Kathryn and Chakotay is unsure what she means by it. She replicates two glasses.  
They sit in his living space. Him on the couch, Kathryn in a chair across from him. They drink the cider. Chakotay was glad he bought the stuff and even more glad that he stored its molecular make up so he could replicate more. A sudden urge of curiosity overcomes him.  
“So, how did you know I kept this in the cargo bay?” asked Chakotay.  
Kathryn grind at him slyly over her glass.  
“I was the captain,” she said.  
Chakotay offers her a small smile, “Yes, you were.”  
They both let his words hang in there air. Kathryn swallows more cider. Chakotay watches as she grimaces a little as the cider burns on the way down her throat.  
“This is good stuff,” she says idly.  
Chakotay nods.  
Silence falls on them again and it’s Chakotay that speaks first.  
“Why are you here, Kathryn?” Chakotay asked, needing to know the answer and dreading it at the same time.  
She couldn’t meet his eyes as she searches for the right words.  
“This past month I’ve been miserable,” said Kathryn.  
She looks up at him, her eyes didn’t hold the excitement and relief he saw in them when they first arrived home.  
“I’d thought you’d be happy to be home,” said Chakotay.  
“I am...I mean, I was. Until I wasn’t,” said Kathryn shaking her head.  
Chakotay is surprised.  
“This isn’t like you,” he said.  
“I’m afraid it is,” said Kathryn, “I’ve been restless since the end of the debriefings. Nothing has felt right.”  
“What do you mean?” said Chakotay.  
He sets his glass down on the glass coffee table in front of him and relaxes back on the couch.  
“Ever since the crew went its separate ways and the senior staff split up, I find myself missing life on Voyager.”  
Chakotay smiles, “It’s not surprising. Voyager has been our home, our way of life for seven years. It’s hard to let that go.”  
“That’s the problem,” said Kathryn, “I don’t want to give them up. Any of them. Especially you.”  
Shock courses through Chakotay.  
“Me?” he said breathlessly.  
Kathryn blushed, “Surely you know.”  
Chakotay’s heart pounds in his chest. He waited years for Kathryn, wanted desperately for a chance to be with her, only to have Kathryn throw rank and duty in his face. Time and time again she pushed him away. Why now? Chakotay shakes his head.  
“We will always be friends Kathryn. That won’t change,” said Chakotay sadly.  
“And if I want more than that?” said Kathryn.  
Chakotay leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. He sighs.  
“What’s changed? You still out rank me. The parameters you set for us on New Earth still apply,” he said, hating to say the words out loud.  
Chakotay saw a brief splash of grief wash over her face but after a second it’s gone. She straightens her shoulders. Chakotay bows his head, closes his eyes, and pinches the bridge of his nose. Why did he say that? Did he really want to push her away like she did to him?  
He didn’t look up until he heard the quiet clink of metal on glass. Chakotay raises his head to see Kathryn’s admiral’s rank bars resting on the coffee table.  
“And with rank removed? What do you say?” said Kathryn.  
“Do I have to say anything?” said Chakotay. His gaze locks with hers. Slowly, he removes his four captain’s pips and places each one on the table. With rank off, they stare at each other. Then she moves. Kathryn stands and approaches him slowly. Chakotay leans back on the couch again, expecting her to sit next to him. Her intentions surprise him. His heart rate increases as Kathryn places her hands on his shoulders. Chakotay inhales deeply as Kathryn straddles his lap. Chakotay’s hands instinctively rest on her hips. He stares up at her. Kathryn stares into his eyes. He opens his mouth to speak but Kathryn places a finger to his lips and what he wants to say dies in his throat. Kathryn’s gaze softens as she traces Chakotay’s tattoo on his forehead with her fingers. Then, her hand slides down to cup his jaw. She kisses him and it is as if a floodgate is open. Chakotay wraps one of his arms around her, holding her to him tightly. His other hand weaves into Kathryn’s hair and he kisses her back. The passion they share surprises him. After all this time, their feelings were not as buried, not as forgotten as he thought. Chakotay groans as Kathryn weaves her hands into his hair. She pulls away.  
Panting a little, Kathryn gazes into Chakotay’s eyes.  
“Why now?” Chakotay asks.  
“Because I can’t imagine a day without you,” Kathryn responds.  
Chakotay kisses her again, remembering the first time she spoke those words to him. They meant a lot to him then and even more now, after all this time. Her hands caress his chest and stop at his uniform jacket zipper. She unzips it and pushes it from his shoulders. Kathryn runs her hands up Chakotay’s chest. He closes his eyes at the sensation.  
“You are my first officer. Fate threw us together and now I don’t want to let you go,” said Kathryn.  
“You don’t have to,” said Chakotay.  
Kathryn kisses him again. Chakotay unbuckles her admiral’s belt and removes her jacket. She grinds her hips against his. They moan together. Chakotay wants to talk, to make some kind of declaration but the way Kathryn tugs his undershirt off him quickly so she can feel his bare skin forces all rational thought away.  
“Bedroom,” Kathryn gasps.  
Chakotay doesn’t hesitate. He wraps his arms around her tightly as Kathryn clings to him. Chakotay stands and catches a glimpse of their rank insignia resting on the table before Kathryn kisses him again.  
Chakotay carries her to the small bedroom of his apartment. He stumbles next to the bed and they collapse on it. He on top of her. Kathryn looks up at him, her face flushed. She smiles her crooked smile that he knows so well.  
She reaches up and strokes his face. Chakotay grins then kisses her. Their passion reignites and they pull at each other’s clothing. Chakotay gasps when their naked bodies press together.  
“Chakotay,” sighes Kathryn.  
Her hand caresses his hip and Chakotay’s kiss intensifies. Their coupling is quick. They gasp and moan and tumble into a shared state of bliss. Chakotay moans Kathryn’s name, his face buried in her neck. Kathryn caresses his back.  
He can feel her breathing heavily next to him as they come down from their high.  
Chakotay shifts to look at her. Kathryn props herself up and gazes at him.  
“I’ve always known we were a good team,” she says with a sated smile.  
Chakotay laughs.  
Kathryn joins him before lying down on her back. They lie next to each other, looking up to the ceiling.  
“So…” said Chakotay.  
“So…What?” Kathryn says.  
“I’d hate to spoil the mood, but what does this mean for us?”  
Kathryn rolls onto her side. She caresses Chakotay’s chest, letting her hand rest above his heart.  
“I would think it’s obvious,” she says.  
“Not to me,” Chakotay said knowing that he needs her to tell him, to talk about what she wants.  
“We spent seven years hiding behind rank. Mostly at my insistence,” she adds quickly, “Rank isn’t a factor now.”  
Chakotay sighs.  
“We’re just Kathryn and Chakotay. No duty, no parameters,” Kathryn says. Chakotay can tell she’s nervous from his lack of reply and he decides then and there, to go all in.  
“And what would you say if I want to make a more permanent arrangement,” says Chakotay.  
“More of this?” Kathryn said, caressing his chest and kissing his neck.  
“More than this,” Chakotay replies his arms wrapping around her and caressing her side, “This and coffee in the morning, trips to the real Lake George, every spare moment by each other’s side.”  
Kathryn smiles against his shoulder.  
“I’d like that,” she says.  
Chakotay rolls to his side so he’s facing her.  
“Well, then Kathryn, my love, my friend, marry me,” says Chakotay.  
Kathryn smiles. A radiant, huge smile and Chakotay sees tears glistening in her eyes.  
“Yes, but engagements don’t really work for me,” she says and a forlorn look flashed in her eyes.  
Chakotay smiles, his dimples clearly showing. He’s thrilled and Kathryn notices. Soon her forlorn looks slowly disappears.  
“Then, from this moment forward. We’re married. I don’t need a party or a Starfleet form to know that you have my heart, completely. It’s been that way almost since the moment we met,” says Chakotay.  
Kathryn caresses his cheek, moved by his words.  
“From this moment forward. I’m yours, all my love, my support, my commitment is to you,” says Kathryn.  
“To us,” Chakotay offers, “ your needs are just as important.”  
Kathryn kisses him. It’s a kiss of love, of devotion, of knowing that whatever the future may hold, they would face it together, without barriers, parameters, or rank to stand in their way


End file.
